Re: Strongest of the Hidden Leaf: The Hyuga Clan FC
Ok...I feel like it was way to drawn out when it SHOULD have been rushed.
Kiba: Neji hurry! Hinata is...!!!
Gives me a sense of OH SHIT!
Next panel manga wise we do see that...Hinata getting a hit. Turns out to be a Zetsu.
Then the next time we see her, she's hit someone and is desperately trying to turn to face three closing in opponents.
That felt really quick time and fast action....but with the anime, Kiba says his line and it feels like 3/4 minutes pass before she's even in trouble. Which is because they only show one Guy and them three people airbrushing.
As a result I'm thinking...is Kiba just chasing these three guys on Akamaru?! Furthermore, how hasn't he caught up, thrown shuriken, and even worse why are these Zetsu speeding all the way across a battlefield for Hinata?
This scene should have been faster paced or else shown Hinata dealing with more than one guy to get a sense that for that entire rush scene, Hinata is in danger constantly...and that Neji's mistake was fatal.
Yeah that scene was way too sluggish to seem "dangerous"
As for Neji.....awful....now the way he died was epic....self sacrifice is the honorable death. But the problems.
1. Genius does nothing new...called a genius when he basically did what Hiashi told him to do....should have done it by himself...or shown a unique Kaiten.
What has Neji shown the reader to validate his "genius" status before this chapter?! This is like if Samui popped up next chapter, died, then started preaching to Naruto how he has to save everyone while Bee constantly stated "But but but...Samui's has the most potential in Kumo..."
but many people including myself have been pretty pissed at Kishi on how he started strong with Neji and the Hyuuga in the beginning of Naruto and turn him into possible fodder now....
this death would have been immensely better if Kishimoto had actually given some panel time to Neji and the other rookies after the timeskip. It would have been that much more impactful. But, Kishimoto kinda just put all the Konoha Rookies on the back burner for part II and gave them little to no development. They specifically were the reasons I started watching the anime and eventually got started reading the manga. Shino, Kiba, Lee, Neji, Choji, Shikamaru, Sasuke (before he went emo), and Ino. These characters were AWESOME. And aside from Shikamaru's team, none of them got any real development in the second half of the manga, and I've stopped caring about them as a reader. And that's sad.
I believe it is CHEAP for Kishi to try to convey a theme he set in part 1 and shown no concurrence with in part 2. In part 1, it was established that Neji is a genius. HOW THE HELL HAS NEJI BEEN ABLE TO DISPLAY THAT HE IS SUCH A BADASS/GENIUS IN PART 2?!?!?
He hasn't. We're asked to suspend belief and imagine Neji has always been this genius since part 1. **** THAT! Neji was clearly used as a plot device...an obvious, rushed plot device and that's why readers such as myself hated the death.
2. He's suddenly Naruto's close friend....should've contributed an entire arc on the Hyuga...having Naruto help Hinata which Neji part II is very protective of....also considering its Hyuga, Naruto would be further helping the branches and thus helping Neji....Naruto seemed more shocked Neji died out of nowhere than he died as his actual friend.
3. Lee and his flashback comes out of nowhere...just another reason Kishi should have developed the K11
If you're going to randomly kill Neji, then just kill him! Trying to make Neji seem like such an important figure to Naruto now is just stupid...****ING STUPID. Naruto & Neji NEVER had this sort of bond that Kishimoto so DESPERATELY tried to show in 614. No, the only person he has this sort of relation with was Sasuke, and maybe Gaara. It's even worse when you realize that there has been multiple opportunities for Neji to discuss with Naruto about how much he's "saved him" and how he's "similar to Sasuke". Ex: When the rookies confronted Naruto
When the alliance showed up in all its greatness. Neji wasn't even on a panel. The times we did see him he was getting completely overwhelmed and his "genius" wasn't being portrayed at all. More like mocked and fodderized. Then suddenly he drops from the sky in the last chapter only to die a few pages later. It would have been nice if he had at the very least died in the next chapter after doing a few cool things this round. Whatever the reason, It made me laugh and say wtf?
And it's not like his actual death was handled any better. Hinata refers his dying words. We get Lee crying, and then Gai tells him to man up ....We were all expecting Gai to at least show some sadness, but NOTHING. And then what? 3 panels of Lee thinking about a conversation they had about Neji and him being rivals? Like I said about Kishimoto trying to FORCE a bond between Neji & Naruto that DOESN'T EXIST, he's trying to FORCE a RIVALRY between Lee and Neji that hasn't been brought up in the past 450+ chapters.
4. It's practically been forgotten and shamed upon with Sasuke's arrival.....Naruto is all smiles with Team 7....that's adversely understandable, but Hinata was poorly written. She's all about kindness and being gentle...instead of a serene or almost blankish/empty demeanor (like she was when she looked back during the Hokage debut) she's smiling trying to tell Kiba everyone wants to be Hokage.
Well, this I disagree with. While I do agree Hinata shouldn't be made siling (Naruto too somewhat) I think Neji's death will be focused on more some time later. I just have this weird feeling.
